Education: Graduated from high school in Bellingham. Earned bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Gonzaga University in 1996. Earned law degree from Gonzaga in 2006.

Political experience: Elected to state House every two years since 2008. Serves as assistant ranking minority member on the House’s Labor and Workforce and Judiciary committees.

Work experience: Attorney at M. Casey Law since 2013. Formerly handled personal injury cases at Keith S. Douglass and Associates. Co-founded the Washington Family Foundation. Served 4 ½ years in the army, entering as a lieutenant in 1996, including eight months in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Later served 11 months in Iraq as a captain in the Army and Army National Guard.

Avista Corp. and the BNSF Railway Co. on Friday joined the list of organizations requesting refunds from state Rep. Matt Shea’s re-election campaign. Both companies this year donated $2,000 to Shea’s campaign, the maximum allowed under state law. They want that money back now that the Spokane Valley Republican is under fire for distributing a document titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which spells out how a “Holy Army” should punish those who flout “biblical law.”

Two more organizations demanded money back from state Rep. Matt Shea’s re-election campaign on Thursday, while others denounced his rhetoric and said they would not support him in future elections. The latest controversy surrounding the Spokane Valley Republican also garnered national media attention, and his Democratic opponent reported a last-minute burst of small campaign donations from across the country.

The political arm of the Northwest Credit Union Association, which represents 180 credit unions in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, gave $1,000 to Shea’s campaign this year but recently asked the campaign to return the money. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman told Spokane Public Radio the association had reviewed Shea’s social media activity and determined “his beliefs do not reflect the views and values of our organization, member credit unions or customers.”

Washington state Rep. Matt Shea acknowledged Wednesday he had distributed a four-page manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which describes the Christian god as a “warrior,” details the composition and strategies of a “Holy Army” and condemns abortion and same-sex marriage. After the document was leaked online Tuesday, the Spokane Valley Republican insisted he was not promoting violence and that the message had been taken out of context.

Candidates for the two House positions representing the 4th Legislative District shared vastly different views on health care, organized labor, immigration and other issues during a pair of debates Tuesday evening hosted by the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The “New Code of the West” conference will be a reunion of sorts for the Spokane Valley state legislator and public-lands opponent Ammon Bundy, both of whom rail against what they consider systemic abuses of power by the federal government.

Ted Cummings admits he didn’t pay much attention to state Rep. Matt Shea until early this year, when he noticed the Spokane Valley legislator had introduced a bill that aimed to cripple labor unions. The so-called “right to work” proposal, which never passed out of committee, was anathema to Cummings, a longtime Kaiser Aluminum employee and member of the Steelworkers union. The phrase “right to work,” he said, is “a misnomer,” that‘s “designed to steal from working men and women.” He recalled thinking, “Why would I elect a representative for my state to actively work against my interests?”